


We Had A Star To Wish Upon

by love_killed_the_superstar



Series: Love Is All Around [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: 1960s, Alternate Universe - 1960s, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Falling In Love, Gen, One-Sided Attraction, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, Prequel, Prequel to It's Written On The Wind, Reference to Jane Collective, like literally jamie is fucked once off screen, opalnet and jamienet are background ships i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 06:37:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8613118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: Garnet had noticed Pearl before.(1960s AU, prequel of sorts to It's Written On The Wind.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Weird prequel-ish fic to It's Written On The Wind because why not!!!!!! I've been spending all week in the library studying (and watching my crush from afar) which is how the first scene came about. The rest just sort of came spilling out. This gives a little more backstory to Garnet's previous relationships (which will be covered in a bit more detail in chapter of It's Written On The Wind) as well as how Amethyst and Pearl started out.
> 
> Title is a reference to the Dionne Warwick song 'Trains And Boats And Planes'.

In the fall of 1966, Garnet found herself sitting in the library with a copy of A Midsummer Night's Dream open, though she was paying little to no attention to it. Instead, she was watching Opal Mann standing by one of the bookshelves, talking animatedly to another senior, Sardonyx Khadime. She'd grown up along side her, and recently she was starting to feel those familiar warm feelings in her chest again, this time towards a girl she had built tree houses with and shared a bath with as a small child. Was it right? Hell if she knew. It wasn't like she could talk to her mothers about it – after all, they were all pro and no con when it came to these things, and sometimes she needed an unbiased heterosexual to put things into perspective.

She peered over at the girl sat at the other end of the table, unusually long nose buried deep in a book. She looked like a freshman, skittish and eager to fit in, but also abnormally out of her depth. Maybe a transfer student? It wouldn't be surprising, given how a lot of people visiting Beach City over summer ended up staying on past summer due to the laid back nature of the community.

Yes, that was definitely it. Because how else could Garnet have missed such a cute face?

“You're gonna burn a hole in her forehead if you don't stop staring,” came a low voice, right beside her ear. Garnet just barely kept her composure as she turned to see Amethyst sit herself down beside her, playing with the peace pendant hanging from around her neck. “Please don't tell me you're into that brat.”

“Amethyst,” Garnet greeted. “Not at all. There's someone else in my sights, actually.”

“Cool, because that girl is a fuckin' waste of time.” Amethyst rested her head on another play book Garnet had taken from the shelves, and glanced over lazily to where the girl with the strawberry blonde hair was still flicking through a heavy, musty book, brow furrowed in concentration as she worked. “It's like she popped straight out of her daddy's shirt pocket. Bible said this, white supremacy that.”

Garnet clicked her teeth. “Pity. She's a cute one.”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say. What are you working on, anyway?”

“Poetry. Need one for my next class, so I thought I'd look at some Shakespeare to get some inspiration.”

“And is it working?”

Garnet pushed a piece of paper towards Amethyst, who snatched it up with piqued interest.

_We were so in love and high above_  
_We had a star to wish upon wish_  
_And dreams come true, but not for me_  
_The trains and the boats and planes_  
_Took you away, away from me._

“...G.”

“Yes?”

“...These are lyrics from that Dionne Warwick song.”

“...It came from the heart.”

“They're song lyrics, G.”

“Yes.”

 

…

 

In 1967, on the brink of a break up, Garnet found comfort in storming out of Opal's back yard and out onto the streets of Beach City, kicking every can she could find, every stone, every piece of trash. She headed towards the bus stop, slowing down when she spotted Amethyst screaming after a lithe figure sprinting off into the distance.

“Amethyst? What's going on?”

When Amethyst turned to her, eyes flashing in anger, Garnet noticed immediately her nose was bloodied and swollen.

“That fucking bitch,” she snarled, storming towards Garnet. “That little bitch Pearl, from my home room class, fucking thinks she can do whatever the fuck she wants!”

“Wait, is this the white supremacist girl you were telling me about a few months ago?” Garnet questioned, reaching into her pocket for a tissue to clean Amethyst's face. “She looked like she'd never thrown a punch in her life.”

“We just got off the bus and I caught her going on at Peridot Palli about how the homos should expect a bus ride to hell any day now. And you know, I felt bad not saying anything because of how _you_ are, so I marched up to her and told her that preachers like her are the biggest homos of all, and she fucking punched me! Like, fuck, I thought maybe she'd try and throw a bible at me, but a fist?!”

“You can't rise to her petty arguments, Amethyst,” Garnet protested. She squinted. “Doesn't look broken, just bruised. She must have hit you pretty hard though.”

“What a brat,” spat Amethyst, wiping some blood off on her sleeve. “I'm fucking done with her, G. Whatever stupid crush you had on her, squash it down right now. She's not worth anyone's time.”

Garnet nodded, and put an arm around Amethyst, who leaned into her touch immediately.

“Lets go back to mine. You know the guest room always has a bed for you.”

“What, no Opal tonight?” Amethyst asked with a sniff, trudging alongside her. Garnet huffed out a humourless laugh.

“I don't think we can make it work. I think it's over for us. If not today, tomorrow, or the next day. We're not made to last.”

Amethyst stared up at Garnet. “Oh, G... I didn't know.”

“It's probably for the best, you know?” Garnet said quickly, staring straight ahead. “I mean, a girl like Opal can't be tied down for long. She never even shows up for our dates anymore, I don't know why I thought things would work out between us...”

“You like her,” Amethyst supplied, almost timidly. “Liking people makes us all a bit weird.”

Garnet thought about the girl with the strawberry blonde hair hiding behind a book in the library, the same girl who had punched Amethyst in the face, and sighed.

“Yeah, you got that right.”

 

…

 

Garnet's world was pitching.

She leaned over the rim of the sink and emptied her stomach into the bowl, shaking violently. She'd always hated being sick. She couldn't work out why this was happening – there was nothing going around school that she knew of, all she'd eaten this morning was cereal... She'd only gone in to look for Amethyst since the smokers' bathroom was her usual hangout, but the reek of old cigarette smoke and damp had just turned her stomach, figuratively, on its head.

As she gripped the edge of the sink, retching over and over, she became acutely aware of the fact that her period was supposed to come in two days ago. It was clockwork, every second of the month since she was eleven, and sometimes it was the cramps that made her nauseous, though she hadn't thrown up from period pain since she was thirteen. Maybe that was it? But there was no ache in her stomach at all, just the swimming sickness...

Wait. Late period, vomiting? Her mind ticked back four or five weeks, to a boring Saturday afternoon when her and the paper boy from down the road were hanging out in his parents' garage and had ended up getting up to some risqué shit in the back seat of the car after a few drinks. It was a one time thing, he could barely get it up and it only lasted around ten minutes, so how could that have possibly...?

Well, that was where all of the evidence was pointing to, and she groaned, before another wave of nausea washed over her. She heard footsteps approaching, and the door swung open.

“So then I told her, fuck off, Palli, and – woah, G!”

“A-Amethyst,” Garnet croaked, before doubling over and gagging harshly again. A shrill voice behind her squeaked, “Oh, no, should I get somebody?!”

“Don't,” Amethyst said quickly. “Just, uh – shit, P, you got a handkerchief or something? She needs something cold on her, it's probably the flu or something.”

The smell of her own vomit only made Garnet feel sicker, and she let out a heartfelt groan. There was hardly anything left in her at this point, but the roiling in her stomach had yet to settle. Beside her, thin, pale hands were fumbling with a faucet, and there was a sound of genuine amazement as water actually began to pour from the taps. Garnet had thought this bathroom was completely beyond use.

“Thanks, P. Look, go back to class, you've got history next. I can take things from here, and I'll give you the handkerchief back later, okay?”

A cold cloth was pressed against the back of her neck, and Garnet let out a small whimper of relief.

“Are you sure? I can call my mom up if she's in a lot of pain, she's a nurse, so-”

“She's okay, probably just hungover or got a virus or something,” Amethyst gabbled quickly. “Haul ass, go on. I'll be back for gym, just tell them I'm helping a sick friend. It's the truth, after all, not like I can get busted for that.”

The girl opened the door, and reluctantly called, “I hope you feel better soon,” before letting the door swing shut again behind her. Now truly emptied, Garnet shakily stumbled back into a stall and slumped back on the toilet lid, staring up at the ceiling. Her vision was a little blurry, and Amethyst hovered above her anxiously, pressing the wet cloth against her brow gently.

“Fuck, G. You look real bad. You on grass or something?”

Garnet shook her head weakly. “I... shit. I think I might be pregnant, Amethyst...”

Amethyst's hand froze, and she swore.

“You're serious? I thought you were a lesbo.”

“What can I say, I was curious to see how the other half lived,” Garnet groaned, shutting her eyes and breathing shallowly. “Please, can you just... open the windows more? The smell, it's making me ill.”

Amethyst jumped to the windows and pushed the stiff latches open with all her strength. After swilling out the sink Garnet had been glued to, she returned to her side.

“This is just a bit too much. What are you gonna do?”

“I don't know,” she answered truthfully. “I can't keep it, probably. Pretty sure Jamie's parents would actually crucify him.”

“Shit, that blows.” Amethyst exhaled. “Could really use with a smoke right now.”

“Don't,” Garnet almost begged. “Please, I'll chuck again.”

“Yeah, I won't, don't worry. Just glad I sent Pearl away, she's a pity puker. Last week I got hungover and barfed, and two seconds later she was right there next to me, sober as a rock. It was pretty funny.”

“Wait, _that_ was white supremacy girl?” Garnet groaned, cracking an eye open. “What happened to you guys hating each other with your entire hearts?”

“People change,” Amethyst said with a shrug. “She realised how stupid some of her ideas were, started listening to me for a change, it all worked out. Now we're buds, it was honestly that simple.”

“That really is a miracle,” Garnet laughed shakily. “Well, tell her thanks for lending the handkerchief. Just, don't tell her about the pregnancy, please? I don't even know for sure that it's real, and I don't want anything to get out about it.”

Deep down, she already knew, and she was pretty sure that Amethyst knew too. Still, she went along with it.

“Sure, G. Whatever you say.”

 

…

 

“Evening, Garnet,” Rose greeted cheerfully, slipping on her jacket as Garnet began taking off hers. “Here to take over for me?”

“Someone's got to, right?” Garnet responded with a wry smile, and Rose grinned.

“Right. I just came to pick up my coat, just finished dropping a lady off. Greg told me there was a new caller waiting for a call back, so could you take care of that for me? Pink's been on my case all day, needs a new story by tomorrow morning, so I have to get to the news building.”

“Yeah, I can take care of it.”

Rose patted her on the arm lightly, and Garnet sat down at Priyanka's desk, where the phone was set up. Priyanka had gone home already since there were no more appointments scheduled for that day, so she was all alone. Figured. Greg was supposed to be staying for the whole evening shift, but as usual he was off strumming his guitar at the commune instead of contributing. Typical hippie man.

She picked up the memo pad beside the phone, reading the caller ID. The name rang a bell.

_Pearl._

She'd definitely have to ask Amethyst about this later. Heart racing, she picked up the phone and dialled. After three rings, a voice rang out, “Hello?” and Garnet's heart just about stopped altogether.

“...Pearl?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I know a chapter 3 would have been better, but this came out instead, so sue me. Feel free to comment if you did like it though!


End file.
